The Nightmare Within
by Devi77
Summary: Eduardo has a nightmare of a witch that turns out to be more scarier in real life


**The Nightmare Within**

**(An **_**Extreme Ghostbusters **_**Story)**

(Rated T for violence, I suppose...)

(Note: This episode takes place after the episode, "Deadliners")

It was a very cloudy night as the new four were on call against a dangerous demon. All four (Eduardo, Kylie, Roland, and Garrett) were busting a dangerous Class 5 that was trashing a bed and breakfast as they had chased it directly into a kitchen. During those days when they busted ghosts in the subway and beyond, they eventually had their hands full with a spooker with a penchant for throwing things. Now, this was just another day at the office... or so they thought?

"Throw the trap!" yelled Roland as he and the others shot off their proton blasters.

"Got it!" answered Kylie.

And so, with the trap out, the Class Five mess-maker was finally caught as it was whisked inside in an instant. Even though they caught the ghost, another one was waiting in the wings to haunt a certain slacker...Eduardo! Dressed in Puritan clothes, the woman was staring at Eduardo in the distance as she was waiting to entangle him in the worst way. She was dead set on snagging him for her very own in a much dangerous way. In life, the woman was beautiful, but her elegance and guile had branded her to be a witch as she was caught, tried, and burned at the stake. Her severe crimes were beyond forgiveness as the Puritanical penal code had drove her to her death. Soon, she would find Eduardo and call him her own.

"You're mine!" she yelled.

###

After a long night, Eduardo returned home to his room as he was living alone. After a long shower, he put on his nightclothes as he was getting ready for bed. It had been three days after battling the dangerous Craniac as the workload was getting ready to be complicated. With the light turned off, Eduardo crawled into bed as he began to drift into sleep. It wasn't long until he found himself in a village that was similar to the ones that were dated back when the Salem witch trials ran rampant all those years ago. It was very weird for such a slacker to transport towards the seventeenth century in a time where Puritans were fleeing towards America and settling there with such purity as he saw a woman in a black dress walking outside to churn butter for the household.

"Well, well," said Eduardo curiously. "A boring chick with boring work..."

"Boring, is it?" asked the woman in Puritan clothes.

Turning around, she saw Eduardo standing in front of her as he was shaking like a leaf. What did she want with him and why did she stare at him as if nothing happened? Without hesitation, he ran from the Puritan woman as fast as he could when he later reached into a clearing that had a cauldron in the middle of an inverted pentagram. There was something wrong here. Horrified by the appearance of this deadly site, Eduardo also saw a stone altar that was standing behind the cauldron as it had blood stains all over it. After all those silly lectures from Egon and Kylie about witchcraft and the dangerous consequences from it, the slacker had gotten a real glimpse of what some of the wayward Puritan folk had gotten away with until they all got caught and executed.

"Oh, man!" cried Eduardo as he tried to flee from the clearing. "This _can't_ be happening!"

He had to get away and fast as he was completely surrounded by a group of witches in black cloaks with knives in their hands. Without hesitation, Eduardo quickly ran past the group as he fled deep into a heavily wooded forest where no other witch could find him. Something had told him that this was just a dream and nothing more as he was trying desperately to wake up from it. Why did he stumble onto the alter covered in blood in the first place? Somehow, he felt something attack him as he saw a witch flying over him with a knife in her hand. It wasn't long until he let out a bloodcurdling scream in the middle of the night. He was back in his bed as he looked at the red glowing numbers on his alarm clock. It was 4:45 in the morning as he was all covered in a cold sweat.

Sitting up, Eduardo was panting hard from that harrowing nightmare as he felt his heart pounding in a very alarming panic. He didn't know what to think as he began to lay back down in his bed. Something in his gut had told him that he needed to ask Egon for some advice, but the terror of revealing the nightmare would do him more harm than good as he began to return to sleep. The woman in his dream was more than just a Puritan as she was also a witch as well. The harrowing nightmare had shook Eduardo as he tried desperately to dream of something different. It wasn't working for him as he began to feel shaky. Perhaps he needed to pull himself together, but he needed to tell the others about this bad dream and fast!

###

After a few hours of sleep, Eduardo woke up, again, as he got dressed and ready to go. He had to meet with the others at the Firehouse as he was about to undertake another ghostbusting job. As usual, he wanted to prove himself to the new team as he walked away from his house. Just as he was about to get to work, he found himself whisked away towards the same place from his nightmare. In a desperate attempt to break free, he saw the same woman in Puritan clothes staring at him as she was beginning to welcome him in such a terrifying way. It was the same witch from his dream who wanted to do something more sinister to the slacker.

"You're not going anywhere, boy!" she yelled as she yanked Eduardo by the scruff of his jacket.

"Leave me alone!" he yelled as he broke free.

It wasn't long until Eduardo returned to the real world as he ran as fast as he could. The witch from his dream had emerged into the real world as she chased him all over the city. It wasn't long until he ran into Central Park as he hid in a tree. The witch, however, was circling the park as she was looking for Eduardo. Where was he hiding? Where could he be? She wanted to find him and bring him back to the stone altar as she later vanished back into her own world. She was desperate to bring him towards the sacrificial clearing where the rest of her coven had awaited for the suitable victim for their ghastly ritual.

"The sacrifice must be made!" yelled the witch as she stood near the stone altar.

###

"You've been up a tree?!" yelled Kylie as she was reading a book on witchcraft. "Why didn't you catch a cab or call Roland to pick you up?"

Eduardo didn't answer as he kept staring out the window of the firehouse. He was scared to death of the witch that was chasing him as he even grabbed a paper cup and poured some coffee in it. He was eager to do his ghostbusting job after spending two hours in a tree as he even saw the rain come down from the outside. He couldn't tell the others about the witch he encountered from his dream because he feared that they would never believe him. He had to do this on his own because of the fact that the witch was after him and he didn't want the others to get hurt. It was _his_ nightmare and it was scaring him really bad as he eventually walked towards the couch. Maybe he was just imagining it, but the thought of the witch chasing him had shaken him to the core.

"Is something wrong?" asked Kylie as she saw Eduardo shaking. "You look terrible."

"It's nothing," he answered as he turned on the t.v.

"I don't get it! First, you find yourself in a tree and then you're shaking like a leaf. Are you sure that you're okay?"

The alarm rang as they got on their gear and head out on a call. With Roland and Garrett going along with them for the ride, they definitely had their hands full as they contended with a demon that had a penchant for gobbling up noodles. The pest itself was as large as Slimer when it was chowing down on some soba noodles with extra barbecued pork. It wasn't long until the four Ghostbusters had caught it in limbo as the trap was put in place to capture it. With the ghost caught, it was just another day in the office as they returned to the Firehouse. With the day nearly over with, Eduardo returned to his home as he quickly undressed and rushed straight to the shower. As the water dripped down, he wasn't feeling refreshed after undertaking the job busting the ghost in the noodle shop. Something was wrong with him and the nightmare was about to get very real.

###

After having a shower and getting his nightclothes on, Eduardo climbed into bed as he began to stare at the ceiling. He was scared to death of the witch who wanted him to be a sacrifice as he was trying to prevent himself from falling asleep. Minute after minute, he tried to fight off the much needed sleep as he felt his eyelids getting heavy. He couldn't cave into the nightmare as he continued to fight off the tiredness. Without a hitch, he was finally asleep as he returned to the same place where the altar of stone was. He came face-to-face with the witch who wanted to kill him as he began to run as fast as his legs could take him.

"A sacrifice must be made and _you _are the one that discovered us!" cried the witch.

Eduardo continued to run away from the witch as he later fled into an empty barn. Even with the witch pursuing him, he had no other place to go than the barn as he hid himself from behind the burlap tarp. He needed to wake up as quick as he could as he felt shaky all over. Just as the witch had finally caught up to him, he was seized by the scruff of his collar as she shook him rigorously. He was caught by the witch as she continued to shake him continuously.

"Eduardo! Eduardo, wake up!" she said as the image of her had faded and Eduardo was finally woken up back to the real world. "Come on! You can't be late for class, you know!"

"Help! I don't want to be sacrificed!" he screamed as he opened his eyes back into the real world and also found that Kylie was there while grabbing the scruff of his shirt. "What are you doing here?! Where's the witch?!"

"What witch? Are you really alright? Maybe you should talk to Egon."

"No! Don't let him know! He'll never believe me if I told him about my dream!"

"Don't be ridiculous! Egon _knows _all about that stuff, so can you at least come along and tell him?"

Without hesitation, Eduardo nodded frightfully as he got up from his bed and went straight to the bathroom. After a few minutes of grooming and getting dressed, he got out of the bathroom as he put on his shoe and socks and rushed out the door with Kylie following him from behind. Both were out the door as they ran straight to the community college. Both of them were also late as they joined the rest of the English 101 class. Hour after hour, they got through lectures and various knowledge as they later left for the Firehouse. It wasn't long until Eduardo began to shake with fear as he was staring at the sky.

"Eduardo!" yelled Kylie as she saw him faint on the sidewalk. "Hey! Snap out of it!"

No answer.

"Eduardo!"

###

"No, don't let the witch get me!" Eduardo cried as he woke up in one of the four beds in the old Ghostbusters room. "How did I get here?"

He found himself with electrodes and wires attached to his body as he saw Egon doing some tests from across the table. It wasn't long when Kylie gave him the information about Eduardo's harrowing nightmare as he was also making adjustments to one of his old machines. The alpha wave generator, the old machine that was used once before, had resurfaced with only a few modifications since that incident of the Mean Green Teen Machine years ago as he was about to use the headset on Eduardo. It really has been a long time since the use of the alpha wave generator as Egon was about to get ready for one of his most challenging experiments ever. Earlier, he had heard from Kylie about Eduardo's horrible dream as he was about to find out about the ramblings that scared him.

"What's going on?!" cried Eduardo worriedly.

"You've been unconscious for four hours," answered Egon.

"Where are the others?"

"They're out on a call, but they'll be back soon. Anyway, you need to lie still while I activate the alpha wave generator."

"What are you gonna do to me?!"

"Kylie told me that you were having nightmares and you didn't want to tell us. You _should _be able to trust us about your feelings and let us help you."

Eduardo sighed quietly as he became calm and still. With the headset placed on his head, he drifted off to sleep as he began to dream. Egon watched carefully on the screen as he saw Eduardo walking towards the altar of stone. Something caught his eye as he saw the witch reaching toward Eduardo as he ran away from her clutches. It wasn't long until the electrodes that were clamped around Eduardo's body started to spike up as his heart rate had jumped at an alarming rate. It wasn't long until the witch had caught up to him and seized him by the scruff of his collar.

"The sacrifice must be made!" screamed the witch.

Without hesitation, Egon removed the headset and electrodes from Eduardo's body as the image of the witch disappeared from the screen. Waking up, Eduardo returned to the real world as he sat up shaking like a leaf. To Egon's suspicion, there officially was a witch trying to get Eduardo as something had brought him to attention of a book on witches. The witch herself was considered a dangerous threat as he found out her identity.

"So, what's the verdict?" asked Eduardo.

"The witch that's been pursuing you is none other than Hester Lowe," answered Egon.

"Who is she anyway?

"Hester Lowe was a woman who was into black magic and killing those who walked toward the altar of stone. As her unholy acts of dark arts continued, she was finally caught in the act as she was tried, sentenced, and burned at the stake."

"She also said something about a sacrifice that has to be made."

That sentence had scared Egon as he looked up a picture in one of the books on his desk. The altar of stone was pictured in such a gruesome act that it was hankering for blood. Eduardo was in serious danger and the witch wanted him for something that was very unholy. To his shock, he saw the witch emerge into the room as she snatched him and took him away. It was too late! The witch had already emerged as she even knocked Egon out and took Eduardo away. The witch had won, but there was still hope for whoever is about to rescue Eduardo.

###

Kylie, Roland, and Garrett arrived at the Firehouse as they saw fog coming from upstairs. Something was wrong when they also saw Egon running towards the new guard. He was scared for Eduardo's safety as he grabbed a proton pack and joined the others. The witch had become real this time as her agenda was just a sacrifice to the altar of stone. She wanted a lot more than just power as she finally caught Eduardo in her grasp.

"Where's Eduardo?" asked Roland.

"I'm going after him!" cried Egon as he was about to go out the door.

"Looks like Goat Boy fell a little bit off the wagon," said Garrett.

"This isn't a joke, Garrett," said Kylie as she drew out her PKE meter. "Whoever kidnapped Eduardo will stop at nothing to do something horrible to him."

Egon wasn't pulling any punches as he ran out the door. He was afraid for Eduardo's safety as he was also aware of the witch that abducted him. Roland, Kylie, and Garrett followed him as they stopped him in the middle of his tracks. They also wanted to help Eduardo more than anything as they even blocked Egon's path. They also needed more information about the witch that snatched up Eduardo and fast, for time was running out.

###

Eduardo woke up as he was trapped in an old barn. He also noticed that this was also the place in his dream as there were strange people dressed in Puritan clothing. This wasn't the late twentieth century as it was in the seventeenth century during the Salem Witch Trials. He had to get out of there immediately before his nightmare was about to become a reality. When he escaped the barn, he found it to be a dimension that had been crafted from the psyche of the witch who took him away as he had to prove himself before he got caught. Just as he was about to get out of the dark ages, he saw the witch in front of him as she used her powers to place a birdcage over him. His escape was thwarted as he was escorted back to the barn.

"You will never escape because you're in _my_ domain!" she cackled.

"Whoever you are, my friends will find and rescue me," he said.

"You are completely special, you know."

"Hey, do I look like I'm special? I'm just a slacker!"

"Soon, you'll be appeasing the altar of stone by giving me more power since Kestrel of the olden days! When the moon is in a full eclipse, I shall have that power!"

Eduardo didn't know what to think as he remained trapped in that birdcage. He noticed the moon getting ready to be covered in the eclipse as there wasn't much time left. This wasn't his day after all as he began to feel scared out of his mind. He had to get out of there fast, for the real terror was just beginning.

###

Egon continued to look up the witch in Eduardo's dream as he was finding the incantation that can put her in her place once and for all. He remembered the Kestrel incident very well as he was simply thumbing through some research material. He had to find a solution before something horrible was about to happen. He couldn't risk losing Eduardo because he was one of the new recruits in the roster of ghostbusting. It wasn't long until he found an incantation that could counteract with the witch's power as he saw Kylie, Roland, and Garrett walk into the sitting room. They were also worried about Eduardo as well when they were about to go up against the witch that would use him as a sacrifice in her twisted plot for power.

"So, any luck?" asked Roland.

"There is," said Egon as he wrote the incantation on a post-it note. "This note is a countermeasure in going up against Hester Lowe."

"Who's Hester Lowe?" asked Garrett.

"I've heard about her," said Kylie. "In 1691, the Salem Witch Trials went on during that time, but several people who were persecuted have been innocent the whole time while the real dark witches did the dirty work. There was one that had preyed on power ever since and _that_ witch is none other than Hester Lowe. She even partnered up with Kestrel of all people. By the way, Egon, do you know about her that completely?"

"Hester Lowe was Kestrel's student and apprentice," he said. "She even sought revenge against my ancestors for her capture long ago."

"And now, she has a sacrifice in the form of an idiot," said Garrett.

"That _idiot_ is in grave danger," said Kylie. "Hester Lowe saw something in him that no one had ever seen before. Now, she has him and there's also a lunar eclipse occurring. We need to get a move on, fast!"

And so, the new group and Egon left the firehouse as they drove off in Ecto-1. The signals to the dimension where Hester Lowe had lived were located at an old factory near the East River as it was opening. The new group and Egon had to move fast before time ran out.

###

Hester lifted Eduardo in his birdcage as she carried him off towards the altar of stone. She wanted more power than any other witch in the world as she couldn't wait to get her hands on him. She saw the moon slowly being covered by the minute as she let Eduardo out of the cage and onto the altar. There were demons surrounding it as they bowed only to Hester, who was Kestrel's second-in-command. Soon, she would obtain that power from within that mortal human as she ordered the demons to take him onto the altar of stone. The eclipse was nearly upon the night as it would be a true nightmare to remember.

"Fellow demons," she said. "I bring you this mortal with witching blood in his veins because he is the primal sacrifice that will be needed in bringing me more power!"

Hester cackled wickedly as she drew out a knife and aimed it directly towards Eduardo. She was aiming to strike at his heart as she felt the moon's gaze with such delight. Just as she was about to do away with him, she saw proton streams blazing at her as she dropped the knife onto the ground. Turning around, she saw the new group and Egon aiming their proton blasters at her as they stunned her for a short time. It wasn't long until Kylie ran towards the altar past the demons as she grabbed Eduardo away from harm. She also noticed that he was under a spell as he didn't respond to any stimuli. To her shock, she saw the demons coming at her as they were doing Hester's bidding in bringing the sacrifice back before the eclipse was set.

"Give him back!" shrieked Hester.

"Don't even try it!" cried Kylie as she aimed her proton pistol at the witch.

It didn't do any good as Kylie was pinned down by the demons under Hester's command. She was no match for them as the post-it note in her pocket flew away in the wind. There was no hope left until Eduardo opened his eyes and broke free from Hester's spell. He was in a semi-catatonic state as he was standing in front and center. An eerie aura covered him as it repelled the demons and set Kylie free in order to help the rest of the group catch and trap them. Hester became enraged as she saw Eduardo raise his hands at her and was about to recite something that was out of the ordinary.

"You infernal human!" shrieked Hester. "You are no match for me!"

"I bind thee to the chains of darkness-" said Eduardo.

"Don't you raise your hands at me-!"

"Your dark heart will never rise again-"

"Don't you dare!"

"I will bind you to the dimension of no return, for you will never harm another soul as long as you live. I banish you to that dark place now and forever!"

"NOOOOO!"

A vortex opened as it sucked Hester right in like a vacuum cleaner. The dimension was fading fast as the eclipse was beginning at last. It wasn't long until Eduardo fainted onto the ground until Egon and Kylie picked him up. With Roland and Garrett following them, they all left the eerie dimension as they were safe back in the late twentieth century where they belonged. It was one strange night as the witch, Hester Lowe, was no more when she was banished into the dimension of darkness. As fof Eduardo, however, he had to go back to the Firehouse as Egon was most likely to be running some tests on him in the near future.

###

Eduardo woke up as he was in the same room where the alpha wave generator was. Egon was watching him carefully as he noticed that the nightmare was over. His new recruit was safe as he was ready to tackle another day in the ghostbusting business. It wasn't long until Eduardo sat up as he wanted to get home right away, but there was always a catch in this line of work.

"Well, the nightmare's over," he said.

"Anyway, you recited the incantation that was on that post-it note before it blew away." said Egon.

"What post-it note?"

"The one that had the incantation on it. By the way, you do have a way of attracting trouble in all sorts of ways."

"Yeah, like I'm some sort of 'ghost attractor.'"

"There was something like it from an old colleague of mine long ago, but I perfected it into a small one like that ghost beacon. As for _you_, you're gonna need to have more tests done on you in the near future."

"Well, that's business..."

Eduardo left the room as he sat down in the sitting area where the couch was. He was used to this work because he not only views himself a "scientist," but a powerful being that no one has ever seen before. This was his first demonstration of his witching powers, but he had to keep it a secret because he didn't want this power to get the better of him. After all, he _is_ a scientist...

**The End**


End file.
